Editing Nickelodeon (movie theater) (section)

==History==
The earliest films had been shown in [[Kinetoscope|"peep show" machines]] or projected in [[vaudeville]] theaters as one of the otherwise live acts. Nickelodeons drastically altered film exhibition practices and the leisure-time habits of a large segment of the American public. Although they were characterized by continuous performances of a selection of short films, added attractions such as [[illustrated song]]s were sometimes an important feature. Regarded as disreputable and dangerous by some civic groups and municipal agencies, crude, ill-ventilated nickelodeons with hard wooden seats were outmoded as longer films became common and larger, more comfortably furnished motion-picture theaters were built, a trend that culminated in the lavish "[[movie palace]]s" of the 1920s.

Film historian [[Charles Musser]] wrote: "It is not too much to say that modern cinema began with the nickelodeons."{{sfn|Charles|1990|page=417}}

The name "Nickelodeon" was first used in 1888 by Colonel William Austin{{sfn|Aronson|2008}} for his ''Austin's Nickelodeon'',<ref>{{Cite book |author=King, Moses |url=https://archive.org/details/kingshandbookbo00kinggoog |page=[https://archive.org/details/kingshandbookbo00kinggoog/page/n261 249] |quote=austin's nickelodeon. |title=King's hand-book of Boston |publisher=M. King |edition=9 |year=1889}}</ref> a [[dime museum]] located in [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]]. 

The term was popularized by [[Harry Davis (businessman)|Harry Davis]] and [[John P. Harris]]. On June 19, 1905, they opened a small storefront theater with the name on Smithfield Street in [[Pittsburgh]], [[Pennsylvania]]. Although it was not the first theater to show films, a 1919 news article claimed that it was the first theater in the world "devoted exclusively to exhibition of moving picture spectacles".<ref>{{cite news|author=Lightner, E. W.|url=http://www.clpgh.org/exhibit/neighborhoods/downtown/down_n71.html|title=Pittsburg Gave Birth to the Movie Theater Idea|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060928101958/http://www.clpgh.org/exhibit/neighborhoods/downtown/down_n71.html |archive-date=2006-09-28|newspaper=The Dispatch|date=November 16, 1919}}</ref> 

Davis and Harris found such great success with their operation that their concept of a five-cent theater showing movies continuously was soon imitated by hundreds of ambitious entrepreneurs, as was the name of the theater itself. Statistics at the time show that the number of nickelodeons in the United States doubled between 1907 and 1908 to around 8,000, and it was estimated that by 1910 as many as 26 million Americans visited these theaters weekly.{{sfn|Bowser|1990}}  
Nickelodeons in converted storefronts typically seated fewer than 200 – the patrons often sat on hard wooden chairs, with the screen hung on the back wall. A piano (and maybe a drum set) would be placed to the side of, or below the screen. Larger nickelodeons sometimes had the capacity for well over 1,000 people.{{sfn|Grieveson|2004|pages=80–81}} 

In 1905, [[William Fox (producer)|William Fox]] started his first nickelodeon in [[Brooklyn]].<ref name=expansion>{{cite book |last=Solomon |first=Aubrey |title=The Fox Film Corporation, 1915–1935: A History and Filmography |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zospQ7o5u0oC&pg=PA12|pages=11|year=2014 |publisher=McFarland & Company|isbn=978-0-7864-6286-5}}</ref> He owned numerous theaters in [[New York (state)|New York]] and [[New Jersey]].<ref name=expansioner>{{cite book |last=Solomon |first=Aubrey |title=The Fox Film Corporation, 1915–1935: A History and Filmography |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zospQ7o5u0oC&pg=PA12|page=12|year=2014 |publisher=McFarland & Company|isbn=978-0-7864-6286-5}}</ref>

In 1906, [[Carl Laemmle]] opened his first nickelodeon, The White Front on [[Milwaukee Avenue (Chicago)]] and a second one, The Family Theatre soon after.<ref name="mustea">{{Cite web |last=Cristina Stanca Muste |date=June 8, 2011 |title=Carl Laemmle |url=https://www.immigrantentrepreneurship.org/entries/carl-laemmle/ |access-date=2022-07-06 |website=Immigrant Entrepreneurship |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 1907, [[Louis B. Mayer]] renovated the Gem Theater in [[Haverhill, Massachusetts]], converting it into a nickelodeon, which he opened as the Orpheum Theater, announcing that it would be "the home of refined entertainment devoted to [[Miles Brothers]] moving pictures and [[Illustrated Songs|illustrated songs]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.haverhillusa.com/whereishaverhill.html|title=Where Is Haverhill, Massachusetts?|publisher=City of Haverhill, Massachusetts|date=April 8, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060118094102/http://www.haverhillusa.com/whereishaverhill.html|archive-date=January 18, 2006}}</ref> Other well-known nickelodeon owners were the [[Skouras Brothers]] of St. Louis.{{sfn|Moskos|2018}}